"Who would think of murdering a 4-year-old boy? Are there such monstrous people in this world?" asks 42-year-old Yallappa, whose 4-year-old son Amajagola was brutally murdered on Friday evening.
Yallappa and his family live in the Bandigani village in Bagalakote district's Banhatti taluk. Yallappa, who is employed as an agricultural worker in a farm in his village came home on Fridayto be told that his son was missing.
"My son went to the Balwadi at around 10 am on Friday. Generally, the children stay at the Balwadi till 4pm and they also play for an hour or two before we go to pick them up. On Fridaytoo, my wife waited for my son to come back. He generally plays with the other children at the Balwadi so my wife went there at around 5 pm to pick him up," Yallappa recounts.
However, young Amajagola was not at the Balwadi when his mother went to pick him up. When she equired with the workers at the Balwadi, they informed her that her son was playing with the other children.
"He was not there when my wife looked. She came back home and called me. When I reached home, we realised that he had not gone to any of our relatives homes either," Yallappa says.
Worried about his son, Yallappa began looking for Anajagola in every road in the village. At around 6.30 pm, Yallappa reached an abandoned field in the outskirts of the village and there he found his little boy lying in a pool of blood.
"His throat was cut, his genitals were cut off. His gold earrings and silver chain were missing. It looked like a human sacrifice," Yallappa says.
Yallappa then went door-to-door, asking people of Bandigani whether they had seen anyone with his son. "Some people near the Balwadi told me that one of our neighbours had taken my boy from the Balwadi by telling him that he would buy him sweets. Who would kill a little boy? What did he ever do to anyone?" Yallappa says as he tears up.
The Bandigani Police said that 35-year-old Sabu, who is the prime suspect in the case has absconded and the police are trying to track him dowa.
"The family members believe that it may be a case of human sacrifice. However, it may also be a case of theft. People in the vilage described Sabu as a drunk, who would do anything for a quick buck. It may be a case of theft also. Once we find him, we will get more clarity on the issue. The boy's throat was slit and genitals were cut. We cannot rule out human sacrifice," the police added.
The Bandigani Police have registered a case of murder.